Amariah Rauscher

Illustration Friday - Round

2011-11-29T12:33:00.001-08:00

My IF entry for the week.. I think I like the digital snowflakes a little more than using masking fluid :P

Illustration Friday - Silent

2011-11-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

I have to say I'm really loving my IF illustration this week. It was done with watercolor, colored pencils and charcoal pencil... Although, I did have to put the snowflakes in digitally because the masking fluid I normally use stained my paper yellow. Weird. But anyways, I'm totally going to use this to make a new Winter banner for my blog and Etsy shop :)
I hope you all love this as much as I do!!

Illustration Friday - Fuel

2011-10-25T04:49:00.001-07:00

Another watercolor and charcoal drawing!

Illustration Friday - Scattered

2011-10-17T05:38:00.001-07:00

I really had fun with this one.. It's a watercolor painting outlined with charcoal pencil :)

Illustration Friday - Mesmerizing

2011-09-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Because Autumn is my favorite time of year...

Illustration Friday - Mysterious

2011-09-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've been working on making my faces more interesting from different angles. I just finished this one today and I think it goes well with this weeks IF topic.

Illustration Friday - Influence

2011-08-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

I tried something new this week with paint splatters:)

Illustration Friday - Swell

2011-08-15T04:41:00.001-07:00

This one is actually a 'redo' because I wanted to add butterflies and a little swirl coming out of the sax:)

Illustration Friday - Imperfect

2011-08-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

Climbing the tree wasn't as perfect as she had planned...

Pics From My Favorite City

2011-08-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

New Orleans really is my favorite place... we had so much fun this year. I LOVE the French Quarter:)

A kid was making his dog pose with a cigarette and beer can...

Not sure what these guys/girls were protesting.. not even sure if THEY knew :P

Josh was afraid of this guy!

Illustration Friday - Obsession

2011-07-29T04:48:00.001-07:00

My IF entry for this week :)

Update

2011-07-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I blogged last. So many times I thought about it but it's been crazy busy for me. It's really more of a 'habit' thing.. once I get out of the habit of posting I just sort of let it go and let it go. But last night I got to thinking about it and decided that I need to start making it more of a priority.

But anyways, there are so many things that have happened in recent months. I've done a ton of new work and I'm working on writing/illustrating my own childrens book (which I am very excited about!)Back in the Spring I did a ton of new work for my Etsy shop so check it out if you get a chance.. here are a few new illustrations that I've added:

This Summer has been quite busy with the kids home. They are at that age where they pretty much do their own thing but that doesn't seem to be keeping Junie and Jalen from arguing ALL DAY LONG! What is the deal with girls?? On top of that I've had to go out of town a lot. Matt was in a car accident back in April (I think it was April). For those of you who don't know, he had back surgery last Summer and was still recovering when he was rear-ended a few months ago... so he's back to MRI's and lots of doctor appointments :(

Kids are up so I must be going.. but I really do plan on blogging more regularly again!!

Illustration Friday - Journey

2011-04-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

I know it's been FOR-EV-ER since I made a post but I've been extremely busy with several new projects that I hope to be able to share soon!!

Here is my entry for IF this week.. Enjoy!!

~Am

Blog Feature

2011-03-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Kate and Oli for featuring this drawing!

I love blog features:D

Illustration Friday - Swarm

2011-03-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

So I guess this isn't a 'huge' swarm, but it's what I came up with for this week's Illustration Friday topic. Enjoy!

Illustration Friday - Sweater

2011-02-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a 'portrait' series that I'm working on:)

Illustration Friday - Surrender

2011-02-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

New Illos

2011-01-27T12:05:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone. I've been really, really, busy this month so I haven't been updating as much. I do, however, have a few new illustrations to share:)

This first one is actually the 'third version' of this illustration. It took a couple of times to get it right. The first one had an orange sky but it didn't quite go with the starfish. The second version was just boring, but I really like this third one. The title is The Day The Ocean Disappeared

The title of the next one is For the Blue Birds. It was painted on the new Lanaquarelle watercolor paper I got for Christmas. The paper is wonderful, but it's not right for all projects. For instance, because it dries so quickly it difficult to do washes.

The title of the last one is The Shy Girls. It has a lot of detail and it's outlined with black ink. Most of the time I outline with a charcoal pencil because it's softer and easier to control. But this just had too many small details to do that so I used a Micron pen.

Well that's it for now! I hope everyone is having a good year thus far:)

Illustration Friday - Deja-vu

2011-01-13T12:55:00.001-08:00

This weeks IF topic was difficult because I didn't want it to be too 'literal.' Plus, how do you literally illustrate "deja-vu" in one illustration?

I painted this with watercolor and then used charcoal and ink to outline and shade areas in. The paper I used is different than what I usually paint on. Normally, I use Stonehenge cotton rag paper, but I got a Lanaquarelle hot press watercolor block for Christmas and I LOVE it!! It can stand up to a lot of washes and it dries very quickly. I also got a pad of Yupo paper that I haven't tried yet. Once I have time to paint or draw something on I'll be sure to post it:)

Faulty Christmas Lights

2010-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

We put up our Christmas tree about a week before Christmas, and every year we tell the kids not to mess with the lights. Well last Sunday, Matt and I were downstairs when we suddenly lost electricity in half of the house. Jalen yelled that she had been shocked and a few seconds later Junie came running out of the bathroom saying that she had been shocked too. We asked Jalen what happened and she said that she was playing with the Christmas lights and one of them shocked her. This is why we don't want them playing with the lights!

Fast forward about ten hours. I'm in the downstairs bathroom (the same bathroom Junie was in earlier when we lost the electricity), and what do I see? It's a pair of tweezers, which is not odd in itself, however, these tweezers were black and melted on the tips. Strange right? I think for a moment.. hmm.. Junie was in this bathroom when we lost electricity earlier. So I go find Junie and I ask her about it.

Me: Junie, did you put these tweezers in the electrical outlet earlier today?

Junie: ...

Me: Well did you?

Junie: If I don't say anything, that means 'yes.'

Me: "Yes" means yes Junie. Why did you put the tweezers in the outlet.

Junie: I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that.

I think for second.. is it possible that we NEVER implicitly told Junie to NOT put anything in an electrical outlet. I couldn't specifically remember telling her that.. but she's eight years old.. surely she knows she isn't supposed to. I decide to ask Matt. I told him what Junie did and he said that he's told her numerous times to not put anything in an electrical outlet. So back to Junie.

Me: Junie, you have been told many times to not put things in an electrical outlet.

Junie: I put things in there all the time and nothing happens.

Me: WHAT? What do you mean you put things in there all the time? What are you putting in the outlets?

Junie: I put a Popsicle stick in once and nothing happened.

Me: Why are you putting things in the electrical outlet when you KNOW that you are not supposed to? Don't you know that that can kill you?

Junie: OK, I'll tell you the truth (this means that everything she has told me is a lie and she is about to tell me the truth). I do it because I don't think you know what you're talking about and I want to see for myself if anything will happen.

Me: What if you had been killed?

Junie: I wasn't

Me: But what if you had?

Junie: I wasn't.. geez.. it's not like I'm going to do it again.

Brilliant. Just. Brilliant.

P.S. Junie got to lose a Christmas present because of this.

Illustration Friday - Prehistoric

2010-12-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

My entry for IF this week:)

New Illustrations PLUS a SALE

2010-12-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy making a lot of new illustrations that are now available in my Etsy shop. There are too many to list them all so I'm just posting my favorites here.

Also, starting tomorrow, December 2nd, I am having a huge print sale in my shop. I don't have a whole lot of sales so this is a big deal!! All prints will be 15% off AND free shipping on all orders that are over $50. This sale will only run until January 1st!

Catching Paper Airplanes

For a long time I've been wanting to draw more boys. Originally I was going to have them fishing for 'nothing' but then the idea for paper airplanes kind of popped into my head. This one is available as a 5x7 and 8x10.

Before the Winter Sun Sets

This is an illustration that I made for this last week's Illustration Friday topic "Savour." I've already shared it but I just like it sooo much that I had to post it again. This one is also available in a 5x7 and 8x10.

This One Is For You

Of course, I had to have a Christmas illustration available! This is a Christmas take on my How to Grow a Forest series:)

Ruby Plays in Striped Socks

I don't know why, but I've had music on my brain lately. This was painted with watercolor and ink then I used Photoshop to add the sheet music in the background. I don't like strictly digital art very much, but there are a lot of things you can do with digital that you can't do by hand. I really like the way that this turned out and I'm thinking about mixing in digital with other illustrations in the future.

Ollie Finds What She Has Been Looking For

This is a new 'character' that I've been working on and her name is "Ollie." I don't know why, but I REALLY like striped blue shirts and red shorts:)

I have plenty more available in my shop so run over and check them out!

Illustration Friday - Savour

2010-11-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

I think that this one is just perfect for this week's Illustration Friday topic: Savour. I drew this with charcoal and painted it with watercolor and pastel. I also used Photoshop to add the skin tones and the green on her shirt. Enjoy!

Why I Hate Being Sick

2010-11-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not one to complain, but I have been sick for about the last week with some sort of like a cold/flu thing. I know that no one likes to be sick but I ESPECIALLY don't like it. When I realized I was getting sick I started eating a lot of honey and drinking a lot of tea because that is what everyone I talked to told me to do. In two days I ate about a half a bear of honey (the big bear not the little one) and like 16 cups of tea.

The worst part about me being sick is that I have a hard time falling asleep. I can't sleep when I'm uncomfortable, and when I'm sick I am very uncomfortable. NyQuil usually does a pretty good job of knocking me out, however, it tastes so disgusting that I have to give myself a ten minute pep talk just to be able to drink it down. THEN, after working myself up for ten minutes I realize that if I would have taken it ten minutes ago it would be all over. At that point I have to give myself another pep talk telling myself to take it right away so it can be over with. When I finally do take it I have to eat a bunch of crackers to get the disgusting taste out of my mouth. And by then everyone in the house is staring at me because apparently I was giving myself the pep talk out loud and I have cracker crumbs all over my clothes and in my hair. Needless to say, I don't take NyQuil unless I am really desperate. But seriously, if I didn't have anything better to do, I would totally call NyQuil and ask them why their medicine tastes so bad.

The good news is that I'm getting better now. I'm back to painting and drawing again.. I usually don't work when I'm sick because I tend to 'ruin' things when I don't feel good:/
But anyways, I have a ton of new illustrations to share.. just have to get them all scanned in:)

Illustration Friday - Afterwards

2010-11-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

For Illustration Friday:)

Fall Pics of Junie

2010-11-03T08:51:00.001-07:00

I finally got a chance to get out and take some pictures on Saturday. Junie was the only one home so I just took her out by herself... hopefully I'll have a chance to get some of the other kids this week and next.

This is my favorite one. I wish she hadn't been moving her right arm.. but that's Junie I guess:)

Such a happy girl!

October Giveaway Winner

2010-11-01T11:50:00.001-07:00

The winner of my October giveaway is Lauren over at VisionWise!! She will be receiving this print:

Congrats Lauren and thank you to everyone who entered!!

New Stuff

2010-10-25T11:30:00.001-07:00

It's really hard to believe that October is almost over.. especially since this is my favorite time of year for pictures and I haven't even taken a single one. Hopefully I'll be able to make it out this coming weekend before the leaves turn brown:P
I've been hard at work adding things to my shop. My illustrations are now on magnets and stickers. AmyLynn over at KittyCrossbones on Etsy made them and I think that she did a wonderful job! I used to make a magnets myself but I've found that I just don't have the time anymore. But anyways, these are the pics I took on Friday:
Magnets

Stickers

These are all available here along with some others.

Also, if you haven't entered my October giveaway there are only a few days left to get your name in!!

Illustration Friday - Beneath

2010-10-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

Got this in with one day to spare! My Illustration Friday drawing this week is a 6"x6" watercolor and charcoal painting.

I actually could have had it in earlier, but it took me awhile to figure out how to set up my new scanner:)

Prints of this one are also available here in my shop!

If you haven't already, click here to enter my giveaway!!

October Giveaway

2010-10-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

I had meant to do this yesterday evening but I was without a computer last night. My PC kept crashing so Matt had to reinstall Windows:P The good news is that all of my files are now backed up, but the bad news is that now I have to reinstall all of my software and transfer my pictures back to my computer. Really though, I had too much stuff on it before so it worked out well. Now on to the giveaway...

This month the winner will receive a 3.5" x 5" print of their choice from my shop. What do you have to do to enter? Just respond to this post and let me know what your favorite print is from my shop. If you also write about this giveaway on your own blog you will get a second entry.. but be sure to tell me in your comment that you are planning to do this.

Here are a few of the newer prints now available:

Sometimes You Have To Go It Alone

Just Another Daydreamer

The Writer

Good luck everyone and thank you for entering!!

Giveaway Winner!

2010-10-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

It's that time again! Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway. As usual, I assigned each person a random number, and then used random.org to pick a winner.

Betsy is the lucky winner! She is soon to be the proud owner of this 5x7 print:

Thank you again to everyone who entered. I'll announce the next giveaway on Monday!

Illustration Friday - Old Fashioned

2010-09-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I would have anything for Illustration Friday this week, but then I remembered this drawing I made a few weeks ago.

When I was working on this I wanted the hair and clothes to have that 70s/80s look. That counts as being old-fashioned, right?

An Explosion

2010-09-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned this before, but Culinary in the Country is one of my favorite food blogs. I found a recipe for broccoli-chicken bowls and I decided to give them a whirl the other day. The dish calls for rice, and they recommend making the rice a certain way. You're supposed to boil it in a large pot of water for about a half an hour, drain it, put it back in your pot, then cover it with a towel. You then put the lid back on and let it sit for five or ten minutes.

So I make the rice.. I got through the boiling, draining, and covering part, and had the pot sitting on a back burner which was OFF! At this point I'm still chopping up vegetables for the stir fry when all of a sudden I hear a large POP! I see bits of something out of the corner of my eye.. and being the kind of person who likes my eyesight I immediately closed my eyes and turned away. When I opened up my eyes again I see pieces of glass everywhere! The glass lid that was on the rice had exploded. Yes, it exploded. I have never in my life heard of this kind of thing. The glass lid came with the pot so I'm assuming that it was meant to be used... and to top it off the burner wasn't even on! It was seriously strange.

This is a picture of what the lid looked like pre-explosion:

I gotta say, I didn't see this one coming at all!

Apology Retracted

2010-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Me: Are you mad about something?

Matt: Yes

Me: What?

Matt: You need to apologize to me

Me: oh.. well, yeah, you're probably right. You do deserve an apology.

Matt: I know I do.

Me: So how long are you going to be mad at me?

Matt: Until you apologize

Me: That's ridiculous. What if I never apologize? Are you going to be mad for the rest of your life?

Matt: Maybe.

Me: I would expect that from me, but not from you Matt.

Matt: Are you going to apologize?

Me: Actually, I'm not even sure what I should be apologizing for.

Matt: Because you accused me of something I didn't do!

Me: So if I think you did something wrong I'm not supposed to say anything?

Matt: You're not supposed to accuse me!

Me: If I never accuse you, then how will I know if you did the thing I think you did?

Matt: Ask.

Me: I gotta say, I don't think I'm in the wrong here.

Matt: You are. Trust me.

Me: No, I don't think so. I refuse to apologize.

Matt: You can't do that.

Me: I just did.

Matt: What are you, twelve years old?

Me: I don't like your tone. I think you owe me an apology.

Matt: What?

Me: Yes, and if you don't apologize, I'm going to take back every apology I ever gave you.

Matt: I'm not apologizing.

Me: Fine. I hereby retract every apology I ever gave to you.

Matt: That will be easy because you never apologize for anything.

Me: Yeah, well I'm smarter than you.

Matt: Whatever.

Me: I am. People are always coming up to me and saying "I can't believe your with someone who is so not as smart as you!" Then they try to give me money because they feel sorry for me.

Matt: Well people are always coming up to me and telling me that they feel sorry for me because I have to live with you!

Me: Whatever.

Matt: Whatever to you.

... and it goes on like that for another 10 minutes.

Zoo Pics and Photoshop

2010-09-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the St. Louis zoo last weekend. I don't especially like going to the zoo but I do like taking pictures and every once in awhile I get a good one. They have a butterfly house and I usually get a few good ones in there. But with butterflies, is it possible to get a bad one?!!

I did get a very, very lucky shot of Junie watching a hippo. Now the original picture I took had a great composition, but the water was really dirty:

I spent a few hours in Photoshop and managed remove most of the fish poop and reflections on the glass. I also worked on the color a little:

But then I used a plug-in called Photo Tools 2.5 and used a black and white filter... and I think I like this as a black and white even more.. right?

It's pretty neat and Photo Tools makes it easy. I actually got it free when I bought Photoshop and haven't done a whole lot with it, but there are at least a hundred different filters. Some of the effects like rain or snow take several steps in PS, but just one click in Photo Tools. You can also go back into PS and adjust the opacity because it's on it's own layer. It's certainly not perfect but I have had fun browsing through:)

~Am

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

New Giveaway!!

2010-09-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

It's time to announce the next giveaway!!! This month, the prize is this 5x7 print from my shop:

I actually got the idea for this illustration from someone who had bought another print from me. She told me that when her daughter was little, she told her mom that their hearts were connected by a string :o)

What do you have to do to enter?? Just respond to this post~ It's that easy :)

I will announce the winner on October 1st. Good Luck everyone!

Giveaway Winner!

2010-09-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Time to announce the winner of my latest giveaway:D

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! I assigned each person with a random number, and two numbers if they wrote about my giveaway on their own blog. I then used random.org to randomly select a winner.

And the winner is... Izzy over at Stone Spirit!!

Izzy is soon to be proud owner of an original 5x7 drawing made just for her:o)

I'll announce another giveaway on Sunday, so be sure to check back!

Labor Day Sale

2010-09-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that I'm offering FREE SHIPPING in my shop today and tomorrow only!

I also have several new ACEO's listed. All of these were drawn while Matt was having his surgery.. the first one is my own personal favorite:)

I Was Here First

Just a Little Tree in a Big World

I Miss You This Much

Also, if you haven't already, make sure that you ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!! The winner will be drawn this Friday September 10th.

Cleaning, Cleaning..

2010-08-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

I'm soooo happy that Summer is almost over. It really is my least favorite time of year.. except for when it's the middle of Winter and 20 degrees below zero, then Summer is my most favorite time of year. Matt is still at home, but he goes back to work in two weeks.
I've been trying to get the house cleaned up because it sort of got trashed over the Summer. With Matt unable to use his left arm he couldn't really help out much. However, a few months ago, I did discover that Jalen is able to do things like clean out the fridge and do a GOOD JOB! I have to admit that I only clean it once every couple of months, but now I can have Jalen clean it every week.. yay! Of course this means I have to give her a raise in allowance.. but I figure that with all the work sh does, she's still working for about $1/hour... and that equals a pretty good deal for me!
Other then the fridge, the hardest thing for me to keep clean is the stove top and oven. Regular cleaners just don't do anything for those areas.. I've even tried steel wool and that doesn't get it clean! I looked it up online though, and found out that ammonia is the way to go. You are supposed to take all the pieces of the stovetop and put them in a large bag. You then add a cup of ammonia and then seal it up. You let it sit overnight and the gas from the ammonia makes all the pieces really easy to clean. The only problem is that when you open the bag the gases will destroy about half of your brain cells so you have to be really careful. The first time I did this I didn't have anything over my face and it burned my eyes and throat. Next time I'm going to use a mask and goggles though. If I wasn't so lazy I would take a picture to show you but.. umm.. you can just 'imagine' how shiny and clean it is;o)
Don't forget to enter my giveaway! I'm going to draw a winner on the 10th of September so make sure you get in!!

Giveaway Time.. Finally:P

2010-08-20T16:18:00.001-07:00

Soooo, I decided to giveaway something more special this time.. The winner will receive a 5" x 7" original drawing custom made just for the him/her.

All you have to do to enter is respond to this post by telling me what you did this Summer.. If you also write about the giveaway on your own blog you will receive a second entry.. just let me know in your comment if you plan on doing this:)

Good Luck Everyone!!

This Really Is..

2010-08-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

.. the most wonderful time of the year.. for me anyways:)

The kids don't look very happy, but trust me, the person behind the camera has a big smile:D

I know I haven't been posting much lately. Matt had surgery on his back a few weeks ago, and that plus the kids being home means that I just haven't had a lot of extra time. Several weeks ago, Matt woke up and couldn't move his left arm.. so after several tests they determined that he had four different 'problems.' He needed a surgery on his back and his elbow right away, and the surgeon thinks can be dealt with through medications.

The good news is that Matt can move his left arm again (yay!!) but he is still in a lot of pain so I have to listen to him whine about that all day:P

I will be posting a new giveaway tomorrow and I'm going to make it a good one so be sure to check back to get in on it!!

Why Do I Bother?

2010-07-20T11:10:00.001-07:00

An Argument

2010-07-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Matt: Why are you mad at me?

Me: You know why.

Matt: No, I don't.

Me: Maybe if you think about it for awhile you'll figure it out.

Matt: (sighs) can we not do this? Just tell me why you're mad.

Me: Fine.

Matt: ...?

Me: I'm mad because yesterday when I was mad at you, I told you to leave me alone, and you just walked away.

Matt: Your mad because I did what you told me to do?

Me: Usually you care enough to keep asking me what's wrong, but yesterday you just walked away.

Matt: I'm tired of having to pry things out of you.

Me: Well you've already set a prying-precedent and you can't stop now.

Matt: Why?

Me: Because now I expect it!

Matt: What were you even mad about yesterday?

Me: ...I don't know. Nothing I guess. Look, if I say I'm sorry for being mad at you yesterday can we just forget about it?

Matt: Yes

Me: ok

Matt: Well?

Me: Well what?

Matt: Aren't you going to apologize for being mad at me yesterday for no good reason?

Me: I just did!

Matt: No you didn't!

Me: Yes, I did. I said "ok."

Matt: That is not an apology.

Me: (thinks for a few seconds) I think that you are the one who should apologize to me anyways.

Matt: WHAT FOR?

Me: because yesterday when I was mad at you for no good reason and I told you to leave me alone you just walked away.

Matt: If you tell me to leave you alone then I'm going to leave you alone. I'm tired of playing mind-games.

Me: Well I'll just keep being mad at you then... And don't think I won't! I can hold a grudge for years!

Matt: Maybe you should learn to let things go.

Me: No way! Forgiveness is for quitters! And if there's one thing I'm not, it's a quitter.

Matt: But you want me to forgive you?

Me: You're just being ridiculous now. Why do you always have to turn things around? You really need to apologize to me.

Matt: I'm not going to apologize. You are the one that needs to apologize.

Me: I already did. I'm not going to keep saying it over and over again.

Matt: I'm not going to apologize to you.

Me: Fine. I won't apologize to you either.

Matt: Fine.

Me: Fine.... I'm really hungry. Want to go get something to eat?

Giveaway Winner!!

2010-07-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

The winner of my June giveaway is Sarah Craig! I assigned each entrant a random number, then used random.org to generate a winner.

Sarah will soon be the proud owner of this print:

Congratulations Sarah!!

I Return at Last!

2010-06-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I posted but so much is going on. Matt lost the use of his left arm in a fight with a Ninja and he's been really depressed about it. I definitely recommend heading over to his blog and leaving him a comment as this would cheer him up!!! I also recommend becoming a follower of his blog if you aren't already because then you read about what a juice-bag I am (can I copyright the term 'juicebag?' or will all the juice bag companies sue me for using it in a non-juicy way? hmmm) :P
Anyways, having the kids home plus having to do so much around the house has left me little time. I did manage to finish this drawing. I've been working on it just a few minutes a day for the last several months and I'm really happy to finally be finished with it. It's called Stepping Into the Cat's Cradle II and is basically a replacement for my first Stepping Into the Cat's Cradle. I like this one a lot more because it has more color AND it's closer to the style that I've been working on lately.

I have limited edition prints available here in my shop!

Let me know what you think and don't forget to go say 'hi' to Matt!!

June Giveaway

2010-06-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously sorry that it took me so long to post this. I keep forgetting things lately:P

But, anywho, here it is. This months giveaway winner will receive this 5x7 print:

All you have to do is respond to this post and your name will be entered. Everyone is free to enter, but if you don't have a blogger account please leave an email address so I can get in touch with you should you win:)

Good Luck!!

And the Winner Is....

2010-06-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

OK, raise your hand if you think I'm the most unreliable giveaway person ever!

I just realized that I was supposed to do this on Tuesday, but totally forgot. The kids are home from school now and it just completely slipped my mind. But, I did take care of it this morning.

I assigned each entrant with a number, then used random.org to select a winner.

And the winner is Cat of In the Light of the Moon!

She is soon to be the owner of this key chain:

Thank you to everyone who entered and I will be announcing the next giveaway very soon!

~Am

New Portrait

2010-05-27T06:36:00.001-07:00

So I actually didn't think that this was going to work out as a portrait. Mostly it was just sort of an experiment to see if I could use a little bit of color to give a 'glowing' effect. I also wanted to make a portrait that shows more movement because a lot of my work (especially the portraits) tends to be more 'still.'

I got the idea for this one from a couple of photographs I took of my daughter last year. They were really good pictures, but I didn't think that they would really work as drawings. Sometimes photos should just stay photos. But, I've been working on this new technique of combining charcoal and color in a more sophisticated way, and because these photos had such nice color I thought it would be an interesting challenge to see how much color I could take away but still have that bright, glowing effect.

I really like the way that it has turned out thus far. Though I still have an issue with a few elements. Sometimes I think it's better to stop working on a drawing and put it away for a few weeks.

Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think!

P.S. My husband has also decided to start his own blog. I was going to highly recommend that you follow him, but it's becoming painfully apparent that his only goal is to make me look like a douche.

Illustration Friday - Early

2010-05-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is my illustration for this week's topic "early." This one is actually the first in a series called "How to Grow a Forest."

Enjoy!

Seven Things You Were Afraid to Ask...

2010-05-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

I was recently given the Kreativ Blogger Award by Karen over at Artful Living on the Bluff. Usually, awards come to my blog and die, but I need something to blog about today.

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

The Kreativ Blogger Award
1. Post the award on my blog. (check)
2. Thank the person who gave it to me. (Thank you Cindy)
3. Link to the person who gave this to me. (check)
4. Share a list of 7 things that you probably don't know about me.(see below)
5. Choose 7 great bloggers to give the award to.(see below)
6. Share a link to their blogs.(ditto)
7. Leave a comment on their blog.(will do)

Seven things you want to know about me but were afraid to ask:

1. Socks. I like to wear socks, that if given the proper running start, will allow me to slide from one end of the kitchen to the other. No-slip socks? No thank you!

2. I count syllables. More specifically, I count syllables in sets of seventeen (not as hard as you might think). When I get to seventeen syllables I start over again. If I'm talking to someone and the conversation ends at less then seventeen, I add more syllables in my head to get to seventeen. I also count them when I'm reading, watching television, or listening to the radio.

3. For obvious reasons, I hate circles and even numbers.

4. I HATE, and I mean H-A-T-E being told what to do or what to think. This gets under my skin more then anything! Seriously, I never would have made it in a concentration camp.. the guards would have been like "hey you, go move those rocks" and I would have been like "no, make me!" and they would have been like "we'll just shoot you then" and I would have said "go ahead!" At that point it would have been pretty much over.

5. Whenever I hear a dog barking, I think about soup.

6. My favorite episode of South Park is Make Love, Not Warcraft. It is hilarious! I even have it on my Ipod.

7. I think that blog awards that require me to do things are a little annoying. Do you have any idea how long it takes to select seven people, provide links to their blogs, and then go tell them that they won the award? If I could do it all in one sweep it wouldn't be so bad. But instead I have to select them, go their blogs to make sure they haven't already received the award, get links to their blogs, come back to my blog and add their links, then publish this post, then get a link to this post, then try to remember each person I selected, then go back to their blogs and tell them they won, then post a link on their blog back to my blog. And what about all the people I don't choose? Are they going to be mad at me? Are they going to wonder why they weren't selected? Will I get 'hate emails?' Will the people I did select even bother to pass this along???

But since I have to choose, here are my seven:

1. Izzy of Stone Spirit

2. The Candysaurus

3. Becky of Writing on Rose Petals

4. Lisa of Lisa Lectura Creations

5. Bernie of On My Own

6. Jamie of A Forest Frolic

7. Andrew Finnie Artist and Illustrator

And an hour after starting this post I'm finally done!!

Have a great day everyone!!

Illustration Friday - Fearless

2010-05-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is actually a custom illustration that I made this week, but I think that it fits the topic rather well :)

It was drawn with pencil, then painted with watercolor and pastel, and finally outlined and shaded with charcoal.

Also, there is still time to enter my May giveaway if you haven't already! Everyone is welcome to participate!!

Fashion Tip From Your's Truly

2010-05-10T09:54:00.001-07:00

I think that before one decides to wear any item of clothing or footwear, they should ask themselves one very important question.

"Can I fight in this?"

If the answer is "no" then you shouldn't wear it!

A prime example of a mistake in shoe-ery is Flip Flops.

They are basically a piece of foam that make an annoying noise and remind me of the douches in college who come to class 30 minutes late wearing pajamas, and guess what else? Flip flops!

You can't fight in them, you can't run in them.. you can't even walk fast in them.

Look, I'm not a violent person. But you never know when you're going to get hassled by an old lady in the parking lot at the post office because you didn't know that she wanted the parking space that you just pulled into. After all, you're not a mind reader!

So be smart, be prepared, and just say "no" to flip flops.

Print Sale

2010-05-07T11:15:00.001-07:00

This is just a quick post to let you all know that I'm having a sale on all prints in my shop. This month only, prints are marked down 15%!!

Also, don't forget to enter my May giveaway :)

New Drawing!

2010-05-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I am only 15 followers away from 200!! Yay!!

This is a drawing I just finished. Matt (husband/creative adviser) did not want me to put in the triangles, but I just love them! I think that they really 'make' this drawing so it's more like Art and not just a portrait. It took around 25 hours to complete. Can't imagine how long it would have taken if he was wearing a sweater.. all those cables!! It was drawn with mostly charcoal, then I used white pastel for the highlights.

I've also been thinking about making some kind of tutorial. Is that something that any of you would be interested in? I haven't quite decided how I will do it, but it's been on my mind lately.

I'm off to get some more work done~ Hope you all have a lovely day!!

May Giveway Time

2010-05-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

This month's giveaway is for this cute little key chain.

What do you have to do to enter? Just visit my Etsy shop, then respond to this post and let me know what your favorite item is. Isn't that easy?!

Giveaway Winner!!

2010-05-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

I did my drawing today for my April giveaway. I assigned each person a random number(s) and then used random.org to select the winner.

And the winner is Joanna!! Congratulations Joanna and thank you to everyone who entered!!

Joanna has won this 5x7 Print:

Tomorrow I will announce the May giveaway!!

A Bad Idea

2010-04-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

If you are ever in the situation where several girls under the age of ten want to have a slumber party at your house, just say "no."

Why, you ask?

Because at 2am one of the girls might "see" a stalker outside and wake up all of the other girls. Then, one of the girls might "see" the same stalker, but with a gun. Then, they might start calling all of their parents and telling them that there is a stalker outside who is trying to kill them. Then one of them might have their mother come pick them up. Then they might decide that just calling their parents isn't enough and they have to start calling everyone they know (grandparents, aunts, cousins) to tell them that there is a stalker outside trying to kill them. Some of these relatives will be called 10 or 15 times. The girls might then decide that none of them want to be in the house anymore and arrange for another girls parents to come pick them up. And ALL of this while you are sleeping and have no clue what is going on. Eventually the commotion will wake you up only to find that one girl is gone and the other girls are all packed up and about to leave. And the worst part of it all, is that if there really was a stalker with a gun, the girls were never even going to bother to wake you up and tell you about it!

Recall

2010-04-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

I think that if there is a recall on your car, the dealership should come to you, pick your car up, take it in, fix the problem, and then bring it back. I don't see why I should have to take it in and try to find someone that can give me a ride home and then another ride back to pick up my car from the dealership. So keep sending me your recall notices every month Pontiac- I don't care if my driver's side window 'might' shatter. If you want it fixed so badly, then come and get it. You know where I live! And no, I don't want the dealership to give me a ride either because I don't like to be in confined spaces with people I don't know. Jeez.

Illustration Friday - Linked

2010-04-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

I've been sick all week so this is about as far as I got on this week's Illustration Friday topic "lined." Sorry if it's a little hard to make out-- I think I need a new scanner :P

New Print!

2010-04-09T16:18:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty excited about my newest print. This was painted with watercolor and outlined with charcoal. I had to work with the sky after I scanned it in because it was a little washed out, but I just love the way that it turned out. Matt wants everyone to know that this entire composition was his idea, and he has given himself the new title "creative adviser."
Prints are available here in my shop!

Illustration Friday - Dip

2010-04-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a chance to paint it yet, but this is my IF entry for last Friday's topic "dip." I'm hoping to get it painted this weekend :)

Shopping

2010-04-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

We had to go to five stores to find them, but I bought the girls some new Summer dresses yesterday. Both of them were at the Children's Place. I especially like the white one that Junie is wearing :o)

April Giveaway!!

2010-04-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

I guess I don't have a life, because I'm posting this on a Saturday night :P

But anywho, it's time to announce my giveaway for the month. I'm feeling Spring-ish so the winner will receive this 5x7 print:

What do you have to do to enter? Just respond to this post and let me know what your favorite month is.. Followers of my blog get two entries, and if you write about this on your blog you get three entries!!

Good luck everyone!!

The Winner Is...

2010-04-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Bettyann!! Congrats!! You will soon be the proud owner of this bookmark:

Thank you so much to everyone who entered!! I'll announce the next giveaway within a few days:)

Illustration Friday - Rescue

2010-03-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is my submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic "Rescue."

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already! The drawing will be on Thursday the 1st so only a few more days left!!

The Girl's Room

2010-03-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe but Spring break will be here next week! Sooo, I decided to use that week to re-paint/re-organize/clean/re-decorate the girls' room. The last time I painted their room was five years ago and they've pretty much trashed it since then. They keep their clothes in a big standing closet, but somehow managed to pull the doors off of it. So this means that I also need to figure out where to put their stuff. This is what their closet looks like right now:

The first time I painted their room I made it a vanilla ice cream color, and a deep pink sorbet color. The new ones will be purple, yellow, and green. These are the colors that Jalen picked out:

I was thinking that maybe if they picked out the colors and everything they would actually want to take care of it :P I'm also going to buy new curtains. I already know what kind of fabric I want, but apparently the pattern I want doesn't exist. This is actually the number one reason why i don't like shopping. I have a very clear idea in my mind of what I want, but then when i go to buy it and find that there is no such thing!

Another thing that I'm going to do is paint a couple of acrylic canvas paintings for their walls. I'm trying to convince Jalen that jungle type animals would look best, but so far she just wants flowers.

So that's that.. as soon as I'm finished I'll post pictures!!

New Shelves and Other Stuff

2010-03-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

I've actually been meaning to post this for awhile. Matt put up some new shelves for my in my work room. I thought that I would clean the place up before I took some pictures, but it doesn't matter how much I clean it looks cluttered anyways. Though having the shelves does help:)

He also put a bar on this shelf so that I could have a place for my brown paper. I use this paper a lot of envelopes and other things. It's sooo much easier to have it on a bar then to try to deal with a giant roll of paper!

I also moved my main work table in front of a window.. I guess I could have made those curtains look a little neater before I took the picture!! It really is much nicer to be in front of a window instead of a wall!!

And finally, I got my very first air plant!! It has to be soaked in water every couple of weeks for an hour, but other then that it doesn't need anything. I bought this one from Augury on Etsy. Shipping was really fast and it arrived in perfect condition:)

I've been working on a lot of new things lately that hopefully I will be able to share soon!!

Jalen's Arm

2010-03-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

Jalen's class went skating on Monday, and she fell and fractured her arm. I took her to see an orthopedist on Tuesday, and he said that it was a 'buckle fracture.' Instead of wearing a cast, he decided to splint it.
At first she was happy because she won't have to do chores for a few weeks, but that happiness only lasted about one day. She's already tired of wearing a splint and not being able to ride her bike and play outside. We go back to the orthopedist in a few weeks for more x-rays. If it looks good the splint can come off.
This is her on Tuesday:

Stone Spirit Giveaway

2010-03-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Izzy over at Stone Spirit is giving away one of her lovely necklaces this month!!

All you have to do to enter is visit her blog here, and leave a comment on the giveaway post!!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway.. it ends on March 31st, so get in on it while you still can!

Illustration Friday - Brave

2010-03-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for the IF topic "brave." I even decided to give it the title The Brave One.. Prints are also available here in my shop. Enjoy!

Conversation With Junie

2010-03-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Junie: Mom, I know it's Spring now because it's raining.

Me: Actually, the first day of Spring is in a few weeks.

Junie: There have been thousands of Springs mom, there's no way that the next Spring can be the first one!!

Thank You Izzy!!

2010-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

I got this great bookmark in the mail on Friday. Izzy from Hawkstone Creations made it especially for me. It's made with moonstone and chalcedony. Thank you so much Izzy... I love it!!!

Samwise Sunday

2010-03-07T08:19:00.001-08:00

This is Samwise- the kitten who looked death in the face and peed on it!

March Giveaway

2010-03-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

It's time to announce the March giveaway!!! This month, the prize is this sweet little bookmark from my shop:

What do you have to do to enter?? Just respond to this post and tell me what your favorite book is!! It's that easy :)

I hope March is off to a great start for everyone.. the igniter on our heater went out last night so I'm pretty cold right now.. hopefully it will be fixed soon!!

February Winner

2010-03-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Rachel who is the winner of my February giveaway!! She has won my Hansel and Gretel key chain!!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and I will be announcing the March giveaway tomorrow morning!! Can you believe it's March already??? Time flies..

Update

2010-02-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately... The graphics card on my computer went out about a week ago. Apparently you are supposed to keep your computer dust free. Matt was always telling me I need to vacuum my computer.. but I never did and so my card went out. After I got the new card the graphics on my computer were still all wonky so now it's back in the shop again. Hopefully I'll get it back today because I'm missing it already. Matt thinks that it's the power supply... whatever that is :P
I've been getting hit by spammers a lot on my blog lately. Does anyone else have this problem? Every time it happens I have to go through and delete all the spam comments.. most of which I can't read because they are in Japanese.
We've had a lot of snow and cold weather here. I'm actually looking forward to Spring. Normally I like cooler weather but it's just not as fun as it used to be:)
I've been busy on a couple of portraits. I'm also working on some new custom portrait samples. I've read that you should have people from different age groups, and thus far mine are mostly of kids. The samples take quite awhile because I work in them in my 'spare' time.
I wish I had some pictures to share but they are all on my own computer...
Don't forget to enter my February giveaway if you haven't already!!

February Giveaway

2010-02-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

It's time for a new monthly giveaway! This month the winner will receive this Hansel and Gretel key chain:

All you have to do to enter is respond to this post. AND if you blog about my giveaway I'll enter your name twice. Just let me know in your comment that you wrote about it:)

And the Winner Is....

2010-02-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Layney Dasher!! Congratulations to Layney who is the winner of my January giveaway. She won this 5 x 7 print called How It All Began

The winner was selected by assigning each person who entered with a random number. I think used Random.org to select a random number

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I will be announcing the next giveaway in a few days!!

Illustration Friday - Focused

2010-01-29T06:09:00.001-08:00

So this is the earliest I've gotten IF done, but I just happened to have this on hand:) It was drawn with charcoal, and painted with watercolor. Prints are available here in my shop.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already.. It ends on Sunday and the winner will be announced on Monday!!

Illustration Friday - Confined

2010-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

This is a WIP, but I don't see it getting done before the end of the week so I decided to post it today. Like the one from last week, it was drawn with charcoal and painted with watercolors.

Monthly Giveaway!!

2010-01-08T10:38:00.001-08:00

It's time for my first giveaway of the new year!! Just respond to this post to enter. The winner will receive this 5x7 print:

Good Luck and Thanks for Entering!!

Illustration Friday - Renewal

2010-01-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

First IF of the year!! This is a watercolor and charcoal painting. I've been testing different methods trying to get more texture in watercolor. Plain watercolor doesn't have enough contrast for my taste so I used charcoal for the shadows and to outline. Prints of this one are available here. Enjoy!

New Year Resolutions

2010-01-04T07:45:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!! This is a few days late, but here are my resolutions:

1. Go to the gym at least three times a week. I used to go to the gym a lot more, but I've been slacking for the last few months. Plus, I'm probably going to get in a lot of fights this year and I want to be ready ;)

2. Get organized! I'm not very good at organizing or cleaning so what I really mean is that Matt should organize everything for me but let me pretend like I did it!!

3. Post on Illustration Friday each week. I really want to make this a priority- even if it's just a quick sketch!!

4. Not spend so much time on the computer!!!

5. I would like to have 150 items in my Etsy shop by the end of the year. I had wanted to have 75 at the end of '09 but I didn't quite get there :/ Although I did reach my sales goal of 100!! I've started making bookmarks and key chains for my shop and I would like to make more as the year goes on.

6. Finally, I would like to work more with color. I used to paint a lot, but with the kids being little it was very impractical. I gave away all of my oil paints and most of my acrylics a few years ago. So I'll probably just use watercolor and pastels for now- at least until I can re-buy everything. This is a watercolor that I made over Christmas- it's outlined with black ink and charcoal.

Title: How It Began

So do you have any New Year Resolutions?

Giveaway Winner

2009-12-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

So I meant to do this a few days ago, but we had a minor emergency around here. But anyways, I assigned a number to each person who entered my giveaway, and then used random.org to select a number...

and the winner is Miss Christy!! Congrats Christy!!

Thank you to everyone who entered. I'll have another giveaway after the holidays:)

Conversation about a CD

2009-12-07T10:11:00.001-08:00

Matt: Could you give me my S&G CD back?

Me: Oh… I don’t have it.

Matt: Yes you do. I saw you with it the other day.

Me: That one is mine.

Matt: Well where’s mine then?

Me: Actually, I lost yours several years ago. I put mine in its place so you wouldn’t know.

Matt: Then your CD should be mine because you lost the one that was mine.

Me: I guess you could look at it that way, but I’m not giving you my CD.

Matt: You have to give me yours if you lost mine.

Me: I don’t “have” to do anything!

Matt: You can’t just lose my CD and not replace it.

Me: Maybe this should be a lesson to you… maybe next time you’ll be more careful about who you lend your stuff to.

Matt: That’s ridiculous! I never even told you that you could borrow it in the first place!

Me: You never told me I couldn’t either, and not telling me not to do something is the same as telling I can do something.

Matt: … since when?

Me: I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you buy my CD from me at a reduced price and we’ll call it even.

Matt: I’m not going to buy your CD when you owe me one. How about you give me your CD and then you can buy another one for yourself.

Me: No, that doesn’t sound like a very good deal to me….besides, I don’t use CDs anymore. I have all my music on my ipod.

(My CD has since gone missing and I’m pretty sure that Matt stole it from me!)

Stone Spirit Giveaway and One of My Own

2009-12-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Izzy over at Stone Spirit is having a giveaway for one of her gorgeous necklaces. All you have to do is go over to her blog and tell her which of her necklaces you would most like to win:o) The giveaway ends on Dec 13th at noon so hurry up and enter now!
This is my favorite:

I am also having a giveaway. The giveaway will end on December 18th so that 'hopefully' the winner will get his/her print before Christmas. Just respond to this post by telling me what you would most like to get for Christmas this year. The winner will get one 5x7 print from my shop.

Good Luck Everyone!!

Funny Christmas Lists

2009-11-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

We went out yesterday to start our Christmas shopping. A couple of days ago we asked the kids to make out their wish lists. I went through all the lists, and here are a couple of things on the kid's lists that I found to be especially amusing:

1. Cheez-its

2. $.30

3. Plastic wrap

4. 105 box tops

6. Six pillows (the kind you sleep on)

7. $3.00 (this was on a separate list from the kid who wanted .30)

8. A shovel

9. Three cardboard boxes

10. Tabs from Coke cans

11. A garden hoe

12. Sunflower seeds

13. Animal crackers

14. Tape

15. a Shoebox without shoes in it

P.S. I'm not sure about the shovel, but I will be buying the Cheez its!

Illustration Friday: Unbalanced

2009-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Kitten and Details

2009-11-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like little Samwise might actually pull through. When I went to the vet yesterday he was able to eat food and look around. He's pretty alert but he still can't stand up. Also, there is some swelling on the base of his head which causes him to stiffen up when we touch it. I thought he would be coming home today, but the vet wants to keep him until tomorrow because his motor skills are still impaired. Once he comes home he'll have to be kept in a cage with a heating pad for two weeks. The kids won't be able to come around him at all. Even a little bit of excitement could cause him to start having seizures again. It will be hard for him to be locked up -I can tell that his brain wants to get up and run around but his body just won't let him.
For the last several weeks I've been working on this drawing of Junie in my spare time.

I really wanted to do something that had a LOT of detail. I drew this same picture a few years ago but in that version she is wearing a sleeveless shirt. The shirt didn't have a lot of detail in it so I swapped it out for this sweater. There aren't very many people who do 'extreme' detail work- probably because it can be so time consuming- but I really like it and I want to start making more drawings like this. Here is a close-up of the sweater:

Just this one little section took me over an hour and I'm still not happy with it. I'm guessing it will end up taking around 30 hours for the entire drawing- maybe it'll be finished sometime in 2011! I think the results will be worth it though.

Kitten Accident

2009-11-11T05:04:00.000-08:00

We were given a new little kitten on Saturday morning. He's a very sweet little Persian and only ten weeks old. He looks kind of like Garfield, and we named him Samwise.
On Monday morning he met an accident named 'Junie.' Junie was leaning back in her chair while she was eating breakfast. We tell the kids all the time "don't lean back in your chair" but there she was leaning back in it again. The kitten was playing right behind where Junie was sitting, and her chair fell back and landed on him. He meowed a few times, then got really stiff and stopped moving. A few minutes later he started having seizures- I actually thought he was scratching himself but I found out later that that is what a cat does when it's having a seizure.
Matt called his mom right away and she came over to look at him. She thought he was dying because his breathing was so shallow and at one point he stopped breathing altogether. But we took him into the vet where he was given some steroid shots to reduce the swelling. The vet thinks that the chair hit him on the base of his skull. That was two days ago and he's still at the vet in 'intensive care.' Intensive care for a kitten is just an incubator that gives him extra oxygen. Yesterday, the doctor told Matt that he makes it until Friday he will probably live. From Monday to Tuesday there was a substantial improvement in his breathing and responsiveness. Though it will still be another week or two before he fully recovers. Even when he does recover his motor skills might be affected because of where he was hit. We're all hoping for a full and complete recovery.

And the Winner Is...

2009-11-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

It's time to announce the winner of my giveaway. I actually did the drawing on Saturday but I've been sick for the last several days, so, I am just now posting this.
Anyways, I assigned each person a number (two numbers if they wrote about my giveaway on their blog), and used random.org to select the winner.

And the winner is Robin! Congratulations Robin you will soon be the proud owner of this print:

Thank you to everyone who entered.. I wish that you all could win!!

Conversation about Cake

2009-10-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Matt: What are you doing?

Amariah: Eating a piece of cake. Why?

Matt: I thought you said you wanted to stop eating so many sweets.

Amariah: I do, that's why I'm eating this cake right now.

Matt: That doesn't make any sense.

Amariah: Yes it does. The Amariah of tomorrow is going to need to watch what she eats so I'm eating the last piece of cake now so she won't be tempted by it tomorrow.... "you're welcome future Amariah!"

A Conversation With Matt

2009-10-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Me: Hey, I think my car needs a new battery

Matt: I think so too. You better take it in.

Me: Can you take it in?

Matt: Why can't you do it?

Me: I'm a girl! I can't take my car in for a battery change.. that's a man's job!

Matt: All you do is drop it off and tell them it needs a new battery.

Me: No, I would rather you do it.

Matt: Why?

Me: Because they might try to cheat me since I'm a girl.

Matt: How?

Me: Well, what if they tell me I need two batteries? I'll probably believe it because I'm a girl and I don't know anything about cars.

Matt: You're right.. they might try to sell you blinker fluid too.

Me: Do you think I need blinker fluid?

Matt: You need something, but it's not blinker fluid.

Me: So you're going to take my car in, right?

Matt: I guess I can.

Me: When?

Matt: Whenever I can.

Me: I want you to do it right away. What if I go outside one morning and my car won't start?

Matt: Then you'll just need a jump and we can take it in.

Me: But what if the police or FBI are after me and I'm in a hurry!

Matt: Why would the police or FBI be after you?

Me: I don't know. Maybe I'm not who I say I am.

Matt: Who are you then?

Me: I'm Amariah.. but you don't know that for sure. Besides, I need to be prepared for anything!

Matt: You're unbelievable

Me: So when are you taking my car in??

Illustration Friday - Fast!

2009-10-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Illustration Friday time again. I haven't had any great ideas for the last few topics, but I came up with a drawing for this week's topic - fast. The original plan was to have this little guy tumbling down a hill but I was having problems with it. I think I'll hold off on that drawing until I know exactly what I want.
You might be wondering what is so 'fast' about this illustration... it's really just about how fast this month has gone by. October is my favorite time of year and it has flown by this year!

More Fall Pics of the Kids...

2009-10-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

You Gotta Try This!

2009-10-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

I found this really fantastic food blog called Culinary in the Country. One of the recipes is for Zucchini Maple bread - which I made on Saturday - and it is the best bread I've ever had. If you like maple at all you really need to try it. I didn't take a picture of the one I made, but here is their photo:

It's a little expensive to make because of the maple, but it's well worth it to use real maple syrup instead of the other stuff:)

Me, and Matt and Junie went to see Where the Wild Things Are on Saturday. I wasn't planning on going to see it because I thought it would be boring.... but, it was actually a good movie. The symbolism is probably over the heads of most kids though. And Junie liked it even though it made her cry at the end. Anywho, I think it's a great movie for adults!

Illustration Friday - Flying

2009-10-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm getting this in on the last day!

The topic if "Flying" and yes, that is an MP3 player that she's holding.. probably listening to Bridge over Troubled Water ;)

Enjoy!

Print Sale

2009-10-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to let you know that all prints in my shop have been marked down 10% thru the end of this month!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already!!

Giveaway Time Again!

2009-10-12T15:43:00.001-07:00

I keep meaning to post these giveaways at the beginning of the month but somehow it never happens! This month the giveaway is for this 8"x8" print:

As usual, just respond to this post to be entered. For a second entry, simply write about this giveaway on your own blog. Let me know in the comments section that you've done this and I'll enter your name twice into the drawing.

Good Luck Everyone!!

Picture Time

2009-10-09T08:29:00.001-07:00

I really look forward to this time of year. First, because I love Halloween. Second, I can get great pictures with all of the Fall colors. This year I decided to take each kid out individually, and then take them all out as a group. It's hard to get nice pictures when I take them all out because they argue and fight and get bored after about ten minutes. These are from the first set that I took of Junie.

'Hopefully' the weather will be nice enough to take Josh or Jalen out tomorrow..